Zappa plays Zappa

I bought tickets for the Zappa plays Zappa show as a gift for Jeff. The show comes highly recommended by a music professional/enthusiast that I trust at work. I had no expectations about the show, it was just a gift and it seems that as we get older the experiences we have are more important than things one collects.

The music lover from work invited us along with his group the day of the concert for drinks and dinner before the show. I loved the idea, although I wasn't so sure about showing up for drinks 3 hours before the show started. Since I'm not good at handling alcohol, too much time can be a bad thing.

We got to the bar 15 minutes after our host and his son arrived. His other friends were not there yet so it was the four of us. It made for a great start to the evening being able to chat in a smaller group. The Harp was going down nicely which worried me. We discussed the son's recent college graduation and some of his future plans. We talked about the friends that were expected to come in the door at any moment, but mostly we talked about the music. There were many great bands in our pasts as well as theirs and it made for an interesting discussion.

Our host's friends came with another couple so we all introduced each other as the waitress asked us if we would like to move upstairs. The conversation is better, the view of downtown is better, and just maybe she had an idea that we were going to need the space. It was a great location for a sizeable group. Especially when our host's wife and daughter joined in, making us a group of 10. We talked and drank and laughed and drank until we had some dinner. Then we talked and drank some more.

It was a fun afternoon with interesting people. I felt comfortable, like I've known these people for a while even though I met most of them today. Such a very warm and friendly group. We knew our son-in-law was going to the show and from our view, we could see him and his brother walking across the street. I tried to text a message to get him to stop by but he didn't check the message in time.

As it turns out, there are four bands in this show. We thought it was just Zappa playing Zappa followed by Dream Theater. Since some of our group was interested in Zappa and some in Dream Theater, we all decided to skip the first two bands. So the concert I thought I was going to at 6 turned out to have a 7:20 start. And that meant more drinking, talking, laughing, and having fun. This evening is great and I haven't even seen a concert yet. I learned how good Bombay Sapphire gin is on ice, even though I knew it wasn't a good idea to mix the hard stuff with beer. So I'm still standing and it's all good.

We got to the show and had to kick people out of our seats. Five minutes later, it didn't matter, we moved up by the rest of our dinner group (there were three empy seats next to them so we took up two). Dweezil Zappa came on and it was magical. If I closed my eyes, I thought Frank was on the stage, truly amazing. I was remembering concerts of the 70's when Frank Zappa was in his prime and how the bands of those days came on stage in jeans, funky t-shirts and usually boots. I don't know why, but I always remember boots. Now I look on stage and I see some of the band in cargo shorts and running shoes. It feels wrong like a princess on a Harley wrong. I know it's just the changing times.

I think about how the images of the past flash by, like a collage of little snapshots in time. Leather boots, long haired guitar players, skinny lead singers, the back-up girls all moving in unison. Even though I can feel the electricity of the moment, the melancholy loss of my youth, the terrible events of this year all become part of the slide show images that flash by. Sounds of Frank through his son is a reminder of that past. I think of how Dweezil must feel when he plays his dad's music and I wonder. Does he miss him terribly, or does the music make him feel closer to his dad? I bet it's both, at least the thought brings me some comfort.

I open my eyes to the magic in the air from the music. There is a lot of talent on that stage. I really dig the xylophone sounds. As they finished their set, I was disappointed at how quickly the time had gone by. Even though it felt like he had just started playing, he was on the stage for over 45 minutes. What a great show.

The people who own these seats come to claim them for Dream Theater and we move back nine rows to our original spot. Jeff buys everyone a beer, our new friends buy more beer. More beer. Dream Theater plays and I am still feeling a sort of high from Zappa playing Zappa.

I bought these tickets as a gift for Jeff but at the end of this evening, I think the gift was mine.